THE STATION 149 



General of India would have been regarded as very 

 unusual, even undignified. 



The other matter that impressed me was this : when 

 the news of the disaster at Benares reached the Nawab 

 of Oude, instead of taking advantage of it to throw off 

 his allegiance to the English Government, he at once 

 collected his armies and set off to march to Chunar 

 to afford it assistance. The very different behaviour 

 of the population of Oude towards us during the 

 Mutiny certainly affords grounds for reflection. 



I will follow this account of my office and its records 

 with a short description of the gaol, for that institution 

 is also, to some extent, under my authority. The gaol 

 is situated a little beyond the station. The building 

 is merely a large, square-walled enclosure. In the 

 centre of the side that faces the high - road is the 

 entrance gateway. It is a large, solid, very plain, 

 two-storied structure. To pass through it would hardly 

 repay one, for the interior contains only smaller en- 

 closures and a variety of long tiled sheds, in which 

 the prisoners sleep and work. There are, however, 

 besides, some smaller rooms for the accommodation of 

 guards, and for the confinement of prisoners who have 

 proved refractory ; but a visitor would be most struck 

 by the order and cleanliness everywhere apparent, and 

 the total absence of that oppressive gloom charac- 

 teristic of our prisons at home. 



The gaol as a building has certainly no beauty; but 

 then it has been a good deal altered and added to. There 

 are other prisons built on the same plan that, in a way, 

 are really pretty. One I especially remember. It stood 



